[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68425-68426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22222]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 68425]]


                Proclamation 10634 of September 29, 2023

                
National Arts and Humanities Month, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During the throes of the American Revolution, General 
                George Washington wrote a letter to the American 
                Academy of Arts and Sciences saying, ``The arts and 
                sciences [are] essential to the prosperity of the State 
                and . . . the ornament and happiness of human life.'' 
                His words are a reminder that, since our founding days, 
                America's arts and humanities have helped tell the 
                story of our Nation. They represent the freedom of 
                expression that empowers Americans to speak and think 
                independently and creatively. They build bridges of 
                understanding by chronicling the shared experiences of 
                hope, heartbreak, joy, and pain that help us see 
                ourselves in one another. And they record and wrestle 
                with the truth of our history while envisioning all the 
                possibilities our future holds. During National Arts 
                and Humanities Month, we celebrate all the artists and 
                scholars whose works depict the rich, enduring soul of 
                our Nation.

                My Administration is committed to ensuring that 
                appreciation of and access to the arts and humanities 
                are within the reach of every American. My American 
                Rescue Plan invested over $1 billion to help libraries, 
                theaters, concert halls, and other venues, and we have 
                invested hundreds of millions more into strengthening 
                the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the 
                National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). I also 
                signed an Executive Order to make art more accessible 
                to people from underserved communities, elevate new 
                voices through the arts and humanities, and expand 
                opportunities for artists and scholars.

                In coordination with the White House United We Stand 
                Summit, the NEH launched a new initiative titled 
                ``United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture'' that 
                leverages the arts and humanities to combat hate-
                motivated violence--utilizing the power of art to 
                promote civic engagement and cultural understanding. 
                This project helps reaffirm our Nation's central 
                promise that hate will have no safe harbor in America. 
                And we recently announced the top five awardees of Art 
                x Climate--the first-ever call for visual art that will 
                be featured in the fifth National Climate Assessment.

                One of the greatest joys The First Lady and I have is 
                the opportunity to celebrate the arts through 
                performances and screenings here at the White House. 
                Over the past two and a half years, we have held 
                screenings of films, welcomed dancers to the state 
                floor, and hosted musicians and poets whose 
                performances captured our hearts and souls in a way 
                that only artists can. And I have honored the indelible 
                impact of incredible artists and scholars--from a poet 
                and a painter to musicians and actors--by awarding 
                National Humanities Medals and National Medals of Arts 
                and by hosting Kennedy Center honorees here at the 
                White House. Each of these artists are a testament to a 
                larger truth: that we are a great Nation in large part 
                because of the power of the arts and humanities, which 
                is forever stamped into America's DNA.

                During National Arts and Humanities Month, may we 
                celebrate all the artists and scholars who have dared 
                to reveal the good, bad, and truth of our Nation, and, 
                in the process, have strengthened the covenant that is 
                our democracy.

[[Page 68426]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2023 
                as National Arts and Humanities Month. I call on the 
                people of the United States to observe this month with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and celebrations.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-22222
Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P